How Is the Fear of War Impacting Italian Young Adults' Mental Health? The Mediating Role of Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is affecting mental health even in communities that are not directly involved in the war; added to this is the escalating conflict in the Middle East and its dangerous spread, which brings the war back to the center of the contemporary social and economic horizon. The present study aims to explore the psychological impact of war in a sample of 310 Italian young adults (18-30 years; M = 22.0; SD = 2.6) while exploring the relationship between Fear of War and psychological distress and evaluating the mediating effects of Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty in this relation. Findings highlighted how Fear of War positively and significantly affects Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, and, at the same time, how it fuels both Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty. These constructs, in addition to positively affecting the mental health outcomes considered, mediate the relationship between Fear of War and youth psychological distress with a significant indirect effect observed in all three mediation models performed. Finally, significantly higher levels of psychological distress, Fear of War, and Future Anxiety are reported in women than in men. The findings are discussed with reference to the recent literature on the psychological impact of war and on contemporary youth psychological distress, indicating the importance of educational policies and targeted interventions aimed at supporting this target in coping with multiple contemporary collective stressors.

Psychometric Properties of the Sibling Attachment Inventory in Mexican Young Adults.

The aim of this work was to adapt and validate the Sibling Attachment Inventory (SAI) in Mexican young adults and analyze its psychometric properties. Using an Internet-based survey, data were collected from 307 (64.5% female) Mexican young adults university students (aged 18-30). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to determine the factor structure of the revised Mexican version of the Sibling Attachment Inventory (SAI-RMx). Convergent and predictive validity were verified by carrying out correlations with the parent form of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale (LSRS), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Results indicated that the SAI-RMx presents good levels of internal consistency and a monodimensional structure, also providing evidence for convergent, predictive, and construct validity. Furthermore, secure attachments were linked with high levels of self-esteem, as well as with high levels of life satisfaction. The SAI-RMx is expected to be a reliable instrument for measuring the global level and the three components of secure attachment between siblings in the young adult's Mexican population.

Lesbian and Gay Relationship Satisfaction Among Italians: Adult Attachment, Social Support, and Internalized Stigma.

We examined adult attachment styles, perceived social support, internalized stigma, and relationship satisfaction in a sample of 305 lesbians (48.2%) and gay men (51.8%), ages 19-72 years (M = 36.4; SD = 11.8), and in a same-sex relationship for at least 6 months. Participants were recruited via the Internet and completed a web-based survey. We tested the hypotheses that attachment styles, perceived social support, and internalized stigma predicted relationship satisfaction, as well as that perceived social support would be correlated with internalized stigma. Results strongly supported the hypotheses, thus indicating that attachment styles, perceived support, and internalized stigma were negatively correlated with and predicted relationship satisfaction and that perceived social support was negatively correlated with internalized stigma. Furthermore, results indicated that lesbian participants had lower levels of anxious attachment style and reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction and lower levels of internalized stigma. Finally, results indicated that in the lesbian subsample, conservative political orientation and religious beliefs were correlated with higher levels of internalized stigma; participants coming from central Italy reported higher levels of perceived social support; and participants in civil unions reported higher levels of perceived social support and relationship satisfaction, and lower levels of internalized stigma. Implications for counselors and therapists working with lesbian and gay populations are discussed.

Internalized Sexual Stigma in Italian Lesbians and Gay Men: The Roles of Outness, Connectedness to the LGBT Community, and Relationship Satisfaction.

The authors examined the extent to which outness, connectedness to the LGBT community, and relationship satisfaction could be used to predict internalized sexual stigma scores. A total of 279 Italian lesbians (47%) and gay men (53%) in a same-sex relationship for at least six months completed the web-based survey. Significant correlations were found between outness, connectedness, relationship satisfaction, and internalized stigma. Analyses of variance were conducted on demographic variables to explore group differences. Multivariate regression analysis suggests that demographic variables, outness, connectedness, and relationship satisfaction combined accounted for 32.8% of the variance in overall internalized sexual stigma. Clinical implications are discussed.

Significado de las funciones familiares en adolescentes italianos: nuevas fronteras entre paterno y materno / Meaning of the familiar functions in Italian adolescents: new borders between paternal and maternal

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar el significado que una muestra de adolescentes y adolescentes tardíos del sur de Italia atribuye a las funciones familiares, para analizar la relación entre la percepción de las transformaciones de las funciones paternas y maternas —en particular la carencia de roles normativos y de contención afectiva— y la agresividad como modalidad preferencial de gestión del conflicto. Se aplicó un diferencial semántico (DF, De Rosa, Parrello, & Sommantico, 2006) y un instrumento de agresividad, adaptado a población europea (AQ, Buss & Perry, 1992, 2003) a 259 sujetos, de edad comprendida entre los 17 y los 35 años, divididos en dos grupos, 139 de bachillerato y 120 de licenciatura. Los resultados del análisis del DF indicaron un perfil monofactorial, a diferencia del trifactorial obtenido por Osgood, Suci y Tannembaum (1957), mientras que en el AQ se encontraron diferencias significativas entre la media de la agresividad general (ξ=2,73) y factores del instrumento como agresividad verbal (ξ=3,29), la rabia (ξ=2,86) y hostilidad (ξ=2,86). Se concluye que las cualidades de tamaño y seguridad le son atribuidas específicamente a la madre, y que el nivel de agresividad verbal supera el índice de agresividad general.

The main objective of this study was to explore the meaning attributed to family functions by a sample of adolescents and late adolescents of the southern part of Italy. Accomplishing this objective permitted to understand the relationship between the perception of the transformations in both paternal and maternal functions –specifically the lack of normative roles and of affective containment- and aggressiveness as the most preferable manner to deal with conflict. A semantic differential (DF, De Rosa, Parrello and Sommantico, 2006) and an instrument for measuring aggressiveness, adapted for the European population (AQ Buss and Perry, 1992, 2003) was applied to 259 participants, ranging from 17 to 35 years old; participants were divided in two groups, 139 of them in high school and the other 120 in college. The results of the DF analysis indicated a monofactorial profile, different from the trifactorial profile obtained by Osgood, Suci, &Tannembaum (1957). In the AQ analysis, significant differences between the average of general aggressiveness (ξ = 2,73) and other factors evaluated by the aggressiveness instrument were found, such as verbal aggression (ξ =3,29), anger (ξ =2,86) and hostility (ξ=2,86). It is concluded that the qualities of size and security could be attributed specifically to the mother, and that the level of verbal aggression goes beyond any other index of general aggression.